


tomorrow is a mile away

by beingxwest



Category: Grand Hotel (US TV)
Genre: AU after that, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon compliant-ish, Cute, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I really did my best guys, I'm trash for this ship and we're only five episodes in, My First Work in This Fandom, Pre-Relationship, and sort of beginning-of-relationship, canon compliant through the kiss scene in 1x04, danny pov, happy-ish ending, i guess, lots of moving pieces here, there's some humor too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 07:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19848193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beingxwest/pseuds/beingxwest
Summary: Danny finds Alicia in the hotel’s restaurant after closing. They decided to keep things professional after they kissed in the laundry room, but their feelings for one another obviously didn’t get the memo. Whatever will they do? // there’s angst, but then there’s fluff, and it rounds out in a pretty cute way. This is set after that laundry room kiss (in this fic, that’s when they decided to keep things professional), but before there was any mention of Danny having left someone before he got the job at the hotel. // title and opening quote from “End Credits” by EDEN





	tomorrow is a mile away

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic for this fandom! Please let me know what you think!
> 
> Disclaimer: I may have taken liberties with the timeline for fic purposes, but it's only noticeable if you squint. I've decided to write and post this right after watching 1x05, so this is going to get wrecked by canon, but I'm really proud of this one-shot. This is only canon-compliant until the laundry room kiss in 1x04. In this fic, they decided to keep things professional right after that kiss. 
> 
> I do prompts/ requests here and on my new fanfiction blog on tumblr (@beingxwest). I'm still working on building it, so send me some prompts or requests!

> _ It doesn't matter who we are _   
>  _ We'll keep running through the dark _   
>  _ And all we'll ever need is another day _   
>  _ We can slow down 'cause tomorrow is a mile away _
> 
> _-"End Credits" by EDEN_
> 
> * * *

Danny finds her in the back corner of the hotel restaurant.

He's not looking for her, not really, but the universe seems to be dead set on making things difficult for him. He'd come to the restaurant in search of some peace and quiet of his own - his shift today had felt like it would never end. But while he wants nothing more than to collapse into his bed, he knows he needs to pause for a minute.

So he'd gotten something from a vending machine in the breakroom and circled back to slip into the restaurant. The empty bag of chips was disposed of outside the restaurant; he knows that the post-close cleaning has already been done, and he doesn't want to be _that_ guy, leaving trash in the restaurant before they even open for tomorrow. The intention had been to sit in a dark corner and stew, since he'd finished his snack on the way from the breakroom, until his mind was clear enough for him to make his way back to his apartment. Unfortunately for him, it appears that the dark corner he'd had in mind has already been claimed by someone else.

It's definitely his luck that it's the one person he needs to see the least right now. Or maybe the universe just hates him that much.

Danny shuts the door to the restaurant behind him. It closes soundlessly. He's glad it was already shut before, glad that it wasn't locked beyond the key given to all of the hotel staff. 

Alicia doesn't see him at first. It doesn't appear that she even heard the door open or close, so he chances a few careful steps forward. From his position on the other side of the bar, Danny can see her if he looks directly through the inside of the circular structure. She's sitting by herself in the farthest booth from the door, and if Danny's stomach hadn't made an Olympic event of twisting up every time he sees her, it's so dark in that part of the restaurant that he probably wouldn't be so sure it's her.

The fact that his stomach twists up like that probably isn't a good thing. Danny isn't stupid. He knows what that feeling in his stomach, that tingling in his fingers, the blush at the base of his neck means.

Danny has feelings for her. And he doesn't at all need to.

Alicia is both the last person he needs to be around and the person he wants to be around the most, out of all of the people at this hotel, and it's starting to drive him insane.

In front of Alicia is a martini glass. It's about half-full, and Alicia looks like she's holding up okay, so he's not worried about it. Alicia isn't the kind of person to let herself get carried away, especially not by herself, and definitely not in downstairs in this hotel - she would never want any of the staff to see her like that.

What does bother Danny is the way Alicia is sitting, though - she's not quite hunched over, but she's leaning over the table, shoulders sagging. One of her arms is resting flat on the table in front of her. Her other arm is being used to hold her head up; her elbow is on the table and she's holding her face in her hand. She's sitting in the side of the booth that faces the door Danny came through, her dark hair half-covering her face. It doesn't look like she's so much as noticed that she isn't alone anymore.

She looks absolutely exhausted.

Danny's own exhaustion doesn't exactly melt away, but it hops into the backseat. He's glad that the fog in his mind clears up a bit. Even if it hadn't, though, he knows he would be moving across the empty restaurant to check on her.

Like he's doing now.

His feet have started moving in Alicia's direction without his telling them to. Danny doesn't bother stopping himself - it feels like he's being dragged towards Alicia by the kind of invisible cord he used to hear his parents talk about.

He doesn't have the energy to think through what that might mean. He's never felt this way about someone, but he doesn't even know what it is that he's feeling. For the past few weeks, it hasn't been that hard to shove anything related to Alicia out of his mind - he's here on a mission, he's got work to do, and the last thing he needs is a relationship complicating that even more. He could lose his job at the hotel, lose his one chance to find out what happened to Sky, and it would be all his fault.

So he's been shoving the feelings down. Shoving his thoughts and questions away. Doing his damnedest to ignore the memory of her mouth against his, of her fingers on his neck, of her breath on his face. Busying himself with his job and getting to know the other members of the staff. Taking careful stock of who and what is around him at all times. Making sure that no one ever finds out what he's up to, with the lone exception of Jason, who's friendship is the only thing Danny's been willing to accept as far as other people go since he moved to Miami.

Alicia said that they shouldn't be together. That they should keep things professional. That, yeah, they made out in the laundry room, but that they probably shouldn't do that again.

Even if it's difficult for the both of them.

Danny does what he does best - forces the train of thought from his mind and readily centers his focus on something else - and leans his head to the left and then the right to stretch. Some of the tension in his shoulders and neck releases.

He's rounded the bar now. All that's between him and the booth where Alicia has set up shop is ten or fifteen feet of polished flooring.

Alicia hasn't budged an inch.

Danny may not have known her for very long, but he knows that this is unlike her. Usually, she's so on top of things, so ready, practically bouncing on her heels like she's about to enter a heavyweight wrestling match. But this... He's never seen her so out of it.

He takes another careful step forward. The voice in the back of his head isn't sure that he should be doing this - _you like her a lot,_ it's hissing. _You like her a little too much. Are you sure you need to be around her right now? When both of you are trying to hide from everyone else?_

Danny wants to argue with that logic. He really does. But it's not entirely wrong - he didn't want to leave the hotel yet, because the thought of being alone in his apartment, so quiet it's practically suffocating, was not an appealing one. When he'd chosen to stay and find an empty spot in the closed restaurant, it was because he wanted to be here, to at least hear the noise of the night-shift staff and housekeeping and the huge hotel air conditioner. So maybe he picked the restaurant because he didn't want to be around anyone else, but he stayed because he didn't want to be by himself.

This hotel is good for that much, at least.

If Danny wasn't so sure that his sister died here - he pauses, letting the thought feel like the punch in the gut that it is, letting the pain wash over him -, he's pretty sure that he would fall in love with this place.

_Making sure she's okay would be the friendly thing to do, you know,_ Danny retorts to the unhappy voice in the back of his head. He rolls his eyes at himself. Maybe he's officially going crazy. _That's what friends do._

Even if it's a sign of him losing his mind, it shuts the voice up. Argument won. Decision made.

Checking on her doesn't mean making out with her again.

Danny continues forward, covering the ground between him and the booth where Alicia is sitting in a handful of long strides. He stops next to the seat opposite hers, not wanting to sit down uninvited, but she doesn't look up.

Danny has known what to do for most of his life - he is very much not used to this feeling of confusion, this not knowing how to handle a situation. He's always been that kind of guy, the kind that gets things done and takes opportunities when he sees them.

And he doesn't know what to do now. Trying to get her attention is just going to startle her. He's not going to leave her here like this, and he doesn't know any of her family well enough to call them and let them know where she is. Based on what Danny's seen in the past two weeks, he doesn't know which of her relatives she'd even be okay with being on the other end of that phone call, and he doesn't want to assume and be wrong.

_You've got to do something, man. You can't just keep standing here like a creep._

Biting back the sigh - he knows this is going to make her jump; Sky used to do the same thing if he tried to get her attention when she looked like this - that follows his decision isn't easy given how tired Danny is, but he manages.

His tone is carefully kept between friendly and concerned when he whispers, "Alicia?"

Just as he'd expected, Alicia does jump like someone's taken a swing at her. The movement is accompanied by a slightly undignified gasp. Danny thanks the heavens for his reflexes as he grabs the martini glass and moves it out of the way. If it got knocked over, it would probably just be embarrassing for the both of them.

_No need to make this any more uncomfortable or awkward than necessary, right?_

Alicia regains herself a split-second later. She blinks up at him for a long minute. Danny figures her eyes are probably adjusting to the darkness.

"Danny?" Alicia's voice is equally soft, but doubly hesitant, and Danny doesn't know what to make of her tone. She must hear it herself, because she flinches, shaking her head, and when she repeats herself, the familiar self-assuredness is back. "Danny? What" - or maybe Danny was wrong, because Alicia doesn't seem to know what else to say - "what, um, uh - what are you doing here?"

The reply is instantly in his head: _I work here._ Paired with a coy smile and a wink, it would be the perfect way to head things off. Or, Danny could lean up against the side of the booth and say, _I've come to get your drink order,_ because playing charming is second nature to him.

Or maybe it is his nature. Maybe the knee-jerk _make her laugh, don't talk about your feelings, don't talk about her feelings, don't talk about your combined feelings, change the freaking subject already_ is who he is. Or maybe it's not. Wouldn't he like to know.

Against his better judgement, Danny shakes off the flirty response. The levity might be good for them, but it's not what they need right now, is it?

"I'm, um, well - " Danny shakes his head, breaks off his stuttering with a smile and glances down at his shoes. When he looks back up at Alicia, the corners of her mouth are twisted up, and the martini's been pushed to the side of the table nearest the wall, by the ketchup and salt and pepper. It might not mean anything, but he decides to pretend that it does, and it allows him to get the words out. "I was trying to find some peace and quiet."

Alicia raises her eyebrows. Her eyes are red, and her skin is paler than normal, but that could be a trick of the light. The look in her eyes can only be described as kind. "Rough day?"

Danny nods. "Yeah, you could say that." He decides to bite the bullet. Pointing to the seat opposite hers, he asks, "Mind if I crash your party?"

"It's not much of a party," Alicia quips back. It's honest, and it fits their rhythm of witty banter. Of course she knows how to do both.

Danny doesn't wait for her to change her mind. He slides into the side of the booth across from hers and studies her face. There's a sadness to her eyes, and he's sure that the redness around her eyes isn't just the lighting. Neither is the smudge of makeup beside her right eye.

"Why not?"

She cocks her head to the side. "Why not what?"

It's Danny's turn to raise his eyebrows. He sits back in his side of the booth, being careful not to bump into her legs when he stretches his out underneath the table. "Why isn't it much of a party?"

The blush that finds its way across her cheeks tells Danny that she wasn't playing coy. She looks down at her hands, which she's folded on the table in front of her, and says, "Well, I've just..." A pause. She shakes her head and looks up at him again, shrugging her shoulders.

"Had a rough day?" Danny fills in for her. He can't help the smile that slides onto his face.

Neither can Alicia, apparently, because she blinks at him for half a second, and then throws her head back in a guffaw. Her back hits into the seat behind her hard enough that it there's a tiny _thump_ , but she doesn't stop laughing until she's wiping at her eyes.

Danny laughs too. It's nothing like the way Alicia's laughing - he's not sure if what he said was really _that_ funny, but he's glad it made her laugh. He's also a little too busy to laugh so hard, because he's caught up watching her.

Her laugh is nothing short of contagious. It's a beautiful sound, and Danny has to cut himself off from describing it the way they did in the novels his sister used to read - like _bells_ , or _windchimes_ , or something - and the thought doesn't actually hurt as much as he'd expected it to. Alicia's brown eyes are bright even nearly in the dark as they are, since most of the overhead lighting is off. Even shaking with laughter, she's every bit the graceful, wise, ready-for-anything woman that he has gotten to know.

_Dammit, Garibaldi,_ he chides himself. _Do you think you could sound less in love with_ _her?_

After Alicia composes herself, she turns a dazzling smile on Danny. She's sitting up straighter and there's a different air about her - she no longer looks like she's being dragged down by some kind of invisible weight, for one thing. Danny feels lighter all of the sudden, happy like he hasn't been in a while (or at least since he and Alicia have found a moment alone together, before they abruptly ended things), like Alicia's happiness itself is contagious.

Danny is beginning to think it might be. When Alicia's happy, when she laughs, when she smiles at him, his insides twist up like they're doing some kind of dance routine.

"So what brings you to the restaurant this late?"

It takes a second for the question to sink in, and by the time it does, Alicia is looking at Danny with laughter in her eyes. Her lips are pursed amusedly.

Scratching the back of his neck, trying to ignore the reddening of his cheeks, he replies, "I figured this would be the only place without anyone in it, considering that closing was nearly four hours ago tonight."

Alicia tilts her head in place of a nod. "That's fair." She studies him for another long minute, making him feel more exposed than he ever has under her sharp eyes, and then grins again. "I just wanted to make sure you don't make a habit of rescuing girls from the hotel restaurant."

Danny blinks hard. Alicia is plenty funny, especially when she can get things out around the way she gets flustered. But now she's outright flirting with him. It hasn't even been that long since they decided not to pursue their... mutual attraction. It might just be because it's late. Because they're both tired.

Maybe it wasn't meant to sound the way that it did.

However she meant it, the shock must be evident on his face. Alicia immediately backpedals, like she knew exactly what she was doing, and she's suddenly stumbling over the beginnings of an apology and covering one side of her face with her right hand. Her left hand gestures wildly from where she's holding it a few inches in front of her shoulder. 

"I am so, so, so sorry, Danny, I don't know - it's late, I'm - I'm tired, we're both tired, I don't know what I was thinking - "

_Dammit, Garibaldi. Tell her to chill. It's not like you haven't been flirting with her._

Danny knows what he _wants_ to do. Danny knows what he _should_ do.

Danny doesn't know how to do this without making everything worse.

On the one hand, he can tell Alicia he feels the same way, and that he's having a hard time with this ignoring-their-mutual-feelings thing too. On the other, he can stick to his guns and keep searching for answers about his sister and bury his personal feelings -- for Alicia or otherwise -- down deep enough that they won't be a problem until he finds out what happened to Sky.

Leaning forward, he rests his elbows on the table and drags his hands over his face. _What the hell am I supposed to do?_

By the time Danny's made a decision -- or, well, he knows he doesn't know what he wants, and that's not really a decision, but it's an ixnay on both of the available options, so it's got to count for something -- Alicia is still sputtering through a wordy and tangled attempt at an apology. 

Danny knows that this is not the normal Alicia -- the Alicia everyone else knows, maybe with the exception of her family, is the one that is over-prepared and over-involved and an over-achiever who refuses to drop the ball no matter what. She is unstoppable when she puts her mind to something. 

Maybe it's stupid, but a part of Danny takes an odd comfort in knowing that this -- whatever it is that's between them -- is as jarring for Alicia as it is for him. He feels in way over his head, and it would be worse if he felt that way all on his own, wouldn't it? At least this way, they can navigate the uncharted territory together. 

Danny reaches across the table and grabs one of Alicia's hands. It's the one that's been gracefully flopping back and forth in barely contained gestures for the entire time she's been talking. Her long, pianist's fingers immediately freeze in his larger hand. Alicia cuts herself off mid-sentence. Her gaze flicks back and forth between where Danny's holding her hand and Danny's eyes. 

"You don't need to apologize," he tells her, voice soft. 

He's not sure why he's whispering. There's no one around to hear them. They're all alone in the restaurant, in the farthest corner from the door, and as long as they don't start screaming bloody murder, no one is going to come looking for them. But the moment feels fragile - the tension in the air could be cut with a knife, and the two feet between them feels electrified. 

Alicia doesn't bother wiping the dazed expression off her face. She does look down at where his hand has enveloped hers and, keeping her eyes stuck there for long enough to ask, she breathes, "Why not?" 

Danny fights the urge to roll his eyes. Judging by the way her fingers are limp in his hand, the flush that's spread across her face, it really isn't the time for that. But he does know what else to say that'll make her laugh, and for a split second, he would do absolutely anything to chase the panic out of her eyes. 

"It _is_ a real danger to rescue girls from empty hotel restaurants this late at night." It's the best peace-offering Danny can come up with. He does his best to time the grin and the wink that accompanies it appropriately, but it isn't easy. He's trying to keep his mind from wandering to the way his fingers are tingling, to the way he can feel every single millimeter of where her skin meets his, even though it's just their hands touching. "I'm very glad you're here to stop me. Who knows what might have happened?"

A smile works its way onto Alicia's face. It's really not Danny's best work, but it must be funny enough, because a laugh bubbles out of her throat as well. 

Danny's heart soars, and just like his sister used to tell him -- "When you know, you know, Danny-o," Sky would say, staring up at the stars, the brightest smile on her face. "When you meet the right person, there will be a moment, and you'll just _know_." -- he immediately knows what his choice will be. 

There's no room for deliberation or argument. His mind has been made up without his input, apparently. 

If Danny is honest with himself, it's what he wants, anyway, and no matter what he's here for, Sky would want him to be happy. Sky would want him to look Alicia in the eyes and tell her that she makes him happier than he's been in a long time. 

It's not like he can't have both -- he can see what this is with Alicia, carefully and quietly, and he can keep looking for the truth about Sky. It won't be perfect, and it probably won't last, but --

What little moonlight is streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows on the other side of the room shifts then, reflecting off the bottles and glasses hanging around both sides of the bar, and manages to hit Alicia at just the right angle. Danny's stomach flips like he's on a roller coaster, and all the logical reasons that this is a bad idea are suddenly gone like they were never there. 

"Danny," Alicia starts, that bright and warm smile still on her face. There's a downcast look to her eyes again. It's pretty obvious where she's going.

In response, Danny gets to his feet and steps out of the booth without letting go of her hand. She climbs out after him, and then there's nothing more than inches between them. Alicia's eyes are curious, a little wide, but most importantly, they're locked on Danny's. 

Alicia sounds just as breathless as Danny feels when she says, "I thought we said we weren't going to..." She trails off before she finishes the thought. When she tries again, it looks more like a force of habit than a real attempt to bring up their conversation after they kissed in the laundry room. "To..." 

Danny lifts their joined hands up without a word. He presses his lips to the back of her hand, just above her knuckles, and lets the kiss linger for a couple of seconds. He lowers their hands back down to their sides slowly after that. Everything is happening slowly -- with the sole exception of the pounding of his heart -- , like they're stuck in some kind of trance. 

Hell, they might be, for all Danny knows. He can't seem to tear his eyes away from Alicia's. It feels a whole lot like they're the only two people in the world, even though Danny knows good and well that they're standing on the first floor of a hotel that is at full-capacity and has been for nearly two weeks, and will be for about three more at the minimum. 

Even if it's some kind of weird hotel-induced trance, Danny can't bring himself to care. 

Alicia tilts her head to the side. She moves her free hand to rest on Danny's shoulder. "What are we doing, Danny?" 

An irritating voice in the back of Danny's mind offers, _Something you shouldn't be._ Danny ignores it. 

It might be right, but all bets are officially off. Danny couldn't care less what they should or shouldn't be doing. 

All that matters to him is the woman standing right in front of him, radiant even in the darkness of the empty restaurant. 

"I don't know, Alicia," Danny gulps. It's an honest response. At least it has that going for it. He strokes his thumb over the back of her hand in an effort to calm both of them. "But I really like it, whatever it is." 

She nods. The smile on her face widens, threatening to daze him with its beauty. "I - I do, too." 

Danny's insides are warm and Alicia's eyes are bright and the restaurant is dark but she's gorgeous and Sky was always, _always_ right. 

Outside, the moonlight shifts again, and this time it catches Alicia's face, lights up her eyes. And then Danny just _knows_ what he wants. He knows what he's going to do. It may not be part of his plan, it may not be part of the goal he's got in mind, but he owes it to himself -- to the big sister who always wanted him to be happy, who always told him about how he'd fall hopelessly in love one day -- to figure out if what's between him and Alicia is what Sky always told him about like it was some big, secret treasure he'd have to go on an adventure to find.

They're not in love; they've barely known one another for a few months. But if this is just what really liking someone feels like, it's unlike any crush Danny's ever had, and part of him wants to know how literally being in love could be better than this. 

How could _anything_ be better than this?

Danny would give almost anything to keep standing here with Alicia. The world around them feels like it's falling apart at least once every other day, and it just keeps getting worse, but he's happy. Alicia's smile lights up the room all on its own. 

"What do you want, Alicia?" 

"I - " The word slips out of her mouth before Danny's managed to get the entire question out. Alicia shakes it off, blinks a few times, and then tries again. This time, her words come out with a breathless laugh. "I would really, really like to get out of here."

After a pause, Alicia narrows her eyes at Danny, and then her hand is flying from his shoulder to cover half of her face. "I mean - like, I'm - if you want, I mean --" She stops herself short and then shoves her shoulders back. Her gaze returns to Danny's. The rest of it all comes out in one breath, the words practically tripping over each other. "You could come with me, if you want to." 

Danny tilts his head to each side a few times, pretending to weigh his options. Part of him has known what his answer will be since he spotted her hiding out in the back of the restaurant. When she opens her mouth to take it back, presumably, he shakes his head and grins at her.

The words that come out of his mouth aren't at all the posh, lame excuse for a British accent that he's trying for, but it gets a smile back on Alicia's face nonetheless. "Your wish is my command, Miss Mendoza."

Danny tugs on her hand and turns, leading her towards the door at the front of the restaurant. They'll have to figure something out and meet up outside the hotel so it doesn't look like they're running around together, but it won't be impossible. Just as they're about to round the bar, Alicia stops dead in her tracks behind him. He whirls to face her as best he can, trying not to trip and fall on his ass.

He's pretty sure she just asked him out. The play here is not making himself look like a total moron before they even get out of the hotel. He'll have plenty of time to do that later. 

Alicia's lips are pursed. She's staring at him nervously, and from the way her fingers are twitching at her side, he's sure that the only thing standing between her and wringing her hands is the fact that he's holding one of them.

"Is this what _you_ want, Danny?"

The question catches Danny off-guard. He's not used to someone asking him how he feels like that, and his heart does backflips at the careful, tentative way that Alicia's asking. There's a fire in her eyes that never seems to go away, and it's there now, staring him down, willing him to make the choice for himself. 

Telling him that she's asking for a reason. 

Not because she has to because they both work for the hotel. Not because it's her family's hotel and it puts them both in a bit of an awkward position. But because she _cares_ \-- she cares if it's what he wants, he can tell just by looking into her eyes. 

Danny's glad, again, that he had the good sense to close the restaurant door behind him. He's glad it was already closed and no one will notice. He thanks whoever is bothering to look out for him, whether it be the universe or some other mystical force, and then takes a step towards Alicia. 

There's only an inch between them now.

He lifts his free hand and gingerly rests it on her cheek. She doesn't move, not even after a few seconds, and Danny leans down to brush his lips over hers. 

"This is exactly what I want," he promises her. And then, because the doubt in her eyes hasn't gone away, even if it's against his better judgement, he murmurs, "I've known you for two months and it feels like I've been waiting for you my whole life." 

Alicia pushes up on her tiptoes, which seems a little redundant, given the three-inch stilettos he knows she's wearing. But he's not going to complain, because a second later, her mouth is on his once again. 

They keep it light, much more so than it was in the laundry room, and when Alicia pulls back, Danny reaches out just in time to catch her -- standing on one's tiptoes in high heels, apparently, is not the way to go. They both chuckle softly, and Alicia's hand lands on his chest, practically burning even through the t-shirt he'd changed into after his shift. 

"I feel the exact same way, you know." Alicia sounds as sure as she's ever been. Danny's heart is pounding like it's going to burst out of his chest under her fingertips, and if she notices, she doesn't say anything about it. "Like I've been waiting for you my whole life." 

There's a pause, and then she asks, "What about the company policy?" 

Danny stifles a laugh and a quip about which one of them should have the answer to that particular question. He brushes his thumb over her cheek, leans his head down to press his lips to hers another time. "We can cross that bridge when we get to it." 

She takes a step back, not pulling out of his arms, just trying to get a look at his face. Her mouth is scrunched, eyes narrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I have an idea," Danny smiles. With one hand, he gestures to the restaurant around them. "Tonight, we're just a guy and a girl who met in a fancy restaurant." 

Alicia giggles. Danny's heart squeezes. 

"What about tomorrow?" 

This time, Danny does roll his eyes. "We can cross -- "

" -- that bridge when we get to it," Alicia finishes. There's a fake note of put-out-ness in her voice, and just the slightest bit of sarcasm is there when she adds, "We've been over this." 

Danny steals himself another kiss. "See? Now you're learning." 

Alicia scoffs. Danny laughs. 

Nothing will be the same in the morning, but for once, Danny is starting to believe that that might be okay. They can work everything out later. 

Tonight... They're just a guy and a girl who met in a fancy restaurant, and they can deal with their real lives and real problems after he's gotten used to the way his stomach flips when Alicia laughs. 

There's more than one reason for this, but he sincerely hopes that he _never_ gets used to it.


End file.
